The Warriors of Ferguson

Researchers say American police forces have become radically militarized. No wonder: A government program supplies them with surplus military weaponry and equipment.

Clouds of tear gas waft between armored vehicles as a column of heavily armed men run toward the demonstrators. The armed men wear uniforms, bulletproof vests, helmets and gas masks, and their weapons are aimed at the demonstrators before them. What looks like a scene from a war movie has actually taken place over the past few nights in the small city of Ferguson, Missouri. And the men in uniform aren’t soldiers but policemen, armed to the teeth and wearing equipment we’ve seen in photographs from Iraq and Afghanistan.

That’s no coincidence. Much of the gear police are using in Ferguson and elsewhere really was used by American soldiers in combat. This was all made possible by so-called Program 1033: The U.S. Department of Defense now gives surplus military weapons and equipment to police forces at bargain rates, or sometimes even free of charge. Despite that, the Defense Department saves money, since destroying the weapons in order to prevent them from falling into the wrong hands is expensive. The police in Ferguson also participate in the program, administered by the Law Enforcement Support Office (LESO), according to Pentagon logistics office sources as reported by the newspaper “Today.” The latest items transferred were two vehicles, a trailer and a generator. The Pentagon provided no further details.

But what sounds like a win-win situation has negative side effects: The transformation of cop on the beat into “warrior cop,” as journalist Radley Balko calls him, has a downside. He writes: “Driven by martial rhetoric and the availability of military-style equipment — from bayonets and M-16 rifles to armored personnel carriers — American police forces have often adopted a mind-set previously reserved for the battlefield. The war on drugs and, more recently, post-9/11 anti-terrorism efforts have created a new figure on the U.S. scene: the warrior cop — armed to the teeth, ready to deal harshly with targeted wrongdoers, and a growing threat to familiar American liberties.”

The previous dividing line was that the military was responsible for protecting the United States from external threat, while the police, on the other hand, were charged with providing security as well as law and order internally. The example of Ferguson shows that the Ferguson police no longer see the people as citizens deserving of their protection, but too often as a threat to be neutralized. That conclusion was borne out by an American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) study carried out in June.

According to its report, police in the U.S. have become unnecessarily and dangerously militarized, as evidenced by the increasing number of SWAT-team operations. Not only have the numbers gone up, but their use is increasingly seen in simple operations such as searching homes rather than reserving them for serious situations such as freeing hostages. There are cases similar to that of Tarika Wilson, shot to death by an Ohio SWAT team in 2008 with her baby in her arms. She wasn’t a suspect, but had the misfortune of being the first person the SWAT team encountered after they smashed her door in with a battering ram. Wilson was black, as are most victims of SWAT team engagements.

Not only their appearance, but even the self-image of some police organizations has taken on obviously military overtones. Some of their recruitment videos are heavily martial: Policemen storm a house using smoke grenades, shooting and belly-crawling through a field while dressed in camouflage.

According to LESO figures, police departments in all 50 states have made use of Program 1033 since it was first authorized in 1990, in the war on drugs. Originally, it only applied to the highest levels — federal and state police — and was restricted to use in the war on drugs. Since 1997, any and all anti-crime agencies are authorized to take part in the program and to browse through LESO’s military thrift shop. Thus far, LESO has played middleman for some $5.1 billion worth of gear. In 2013 alone, it gave out around $500 million worth of equipment and weaponry.

LESO’s offerings include M-16A2 assault rifles and M-14 rifles, along with Colt Model 1911 .45 caliber pistols. In addition, they have vehicles such as Humvees and mine-resistant armored trucks. With these, LESO advertises on its web page that police departments have the opportunity to “increase capabilities, expand patrol coverage, reduce response times, and save the American taxpayer’s investment.”

There is no public information available revealing which police departments have received what equipment, something ACLU scientist Kara Dansky criticizes. Even if a police department wants the equipment in case of emergency, Dansky says if it has it, it will use it.

Meanwhile, citizens have begun a petition they call Mike Brown’s Law that calls for an addition to the equipment carried by police: Video cameras allowing better oversight of police actions. By Thursday, the petition had already garnered more than 129,000 signatures. Anything in excess of 100,000 signatures requires the White House to investigate the matter and make its findings public.

Update: The New York Times has published exact figures released by the Defense Department addressing which police departments received LESO material under Program 1033. Their chart reveals that the majority of New York counties benefited from LESO.

The rules of Program 1033 also require that anything supplied to local police must be used by the gaining police department within one year of receipt — something else adding to the militarization of the police.